Waiting for the Rain
by NerdoOfTheFiction
Summary: Its storming hard and Soda hasn't come home. Just a story about Pony worrying about Soda.


When the lightning is bright enough to be a substitute for the sun, you know you should be indoors.

Every flash illuminated every inch of the street as if a crowd of photographers flashed their cameras all at once. The rain was coming down hard-harder than I remember it raining for quite some time. It was ten o'clock, and my brother wasn't home.

Darry made me come away from the front window. I didn't bother resisting him because I knew I could watch the rain come down forever, but my staring at it wouldn't make it stop. I could watch the corner of the street forever, but my staring at it wouldn't make Soda appear any sooner. Darry told me it was dangerous to stand near windows in lightning storms. Well, how dangerous is it to be out in them? How much danger is Soda in?

Darry said not to worry; he was probably staying over at Steve's. We couldn't call, though—the phone lines were down—so I didn't feel very convinced. Darry seemed calm enough, but in the back of my mind I knew he could just be trying to fake it for me. In any event, he told me to go to bed.

"Darry, you're crazy. How could I sleep with this racket?" I threw my head towards the door, indicating the thunder outside.

"Well, you're lucky you don't have school on Sundays then."

He disappeared into his newspaper and sank into his favorite arm chair, so I disappeared into my room with no intention of sleeping. I sat at my desk and peered out the window. Gosh, I've never seen it rain so hard. There were rivers streaming down the street and carrying away soda pop bottles and trash of sorts. Darry's big truck was being pounded so hard, it wouldn't seem right to ever have to wash it again. The lightning was incredible. Just like in movies. There was way too much light coming in to even consider sleeping.

I didn't want to worry about Soda. He's seventeen, for crying out loud. He can take care of himself.

I didn't know what to think.

But eleven o'clock came and went. I decided to crawl into bed, but I lay awake. I heard Darry rustle the paper quite a few times within the last hour. I bet he read that thing straight through. I couldn't do that.

There was an enormous flash of light outside my window as I watched the sky split in two. I jumped and sat up as if the house were on fire. The thunder that followed, I swear, could have caused car alarms to sound. The crackling noise was earsplitting. I had to resist a yelp.

Darry came in then, to see if I was beside myself. "You alright, Pony?"

I decided to play it cool so that he'd leave my room. "Yeah. This storm is pretty tough, huh?"

Unconvinced, he sat on the side of the bed and looked out the window with me. "Damn, Pony, that brother of yours is gonna get it when he comes home for making you worry so much," I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but I wished he hadn't.

"You're worried, too, Darry."

"He's smart enough."

When my brother left, I fell back onto my pillow in relief. Dark and silence was all I needed. Well, I guess more like lonesomeness because this storm was anything but silent. I bit my lip, suddenly fearful. Shoot, this is what I didn't want to happen. Where the hell was Soda?

"Damn it, Sodapop!"

I jumped again at Darry's voice. I heard the door open and the rain's volume increased significantly. Heavy breathing and shoes sliding was all it took to get me out of bed. "Are you out of your mind?" Darry's demanding voice didn't seem to match the loving way he was drying off our brother with a blanket.

Soda was soaked to the bone; hair dripping and clothes plastered to his skin. To say I was relieved is an understatement.

Without a word, he walked past Darry and opened his arms. That was just like Soda to know what I was feeling. When I hugged him, he was shaking hard; I felt like I just jumped into the Atlantic. "Jeez, Soda, you're freezing."

He laughed and pushed me away. Darry looked as if he just watched a pig fly and threw the blanket on Soda's head. "Where were you?"

"I was at the g-gas station," Soda pulled off his shirt and let it fall into a wet lump on the floor. "Fell asleep af-after my shift. That idiot Steve didn't bother waking me u-up." He laughed a little more. Soda never gets mad at anyone.

"Shoot, Sodapop, you're chilled to the bone," Darry was relieved, I could tell, that our brother was home. Even if it was midnight. "How the hell have you been sleeping through this storm?"

"I've been up near two hours; thought I'd try and wait it out. But I didn't wanna worry you guys, so I toughed it out."

Darry looked about to smack him. "Okay, well, you get some new clothes. I'll fix you something warm. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Soda flashed him a Soda-smile.

When Darry disappeared, Soda looked at me, "You alright, Pony?"

I scoffed, "Sodapop, you shouldn't be worrying about me when you're like this."

"Aw, Pony, I'm fine," he promised.

The next minute, the lights flickered and went out. We heard Darry curse from the kitchen and Soda laughed. Despite him probably catching a cold, I could see my worries were wasted on Soda. My brother is sure one of a kind.


End file.
